BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2022

Mark Adams

Kevin Obanor

Terrence Shannon

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Postgame Press Conference

Texas Tech 72, Iowa State 41

THE MODERATOR: Okay, we are ready to begin with the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. Head Coach Mark Adams and the student-athletes are Terrence Shannon, Jr, and Adonis Arms.

Coach?

MARK ADAMS: Extremely pleased. I thought we played the best forty minutes we have played all year. Our guys were ready to play. I was proud of their effort, especially on defense. I thought we made a great statement there that we're a defensive team, and guys took a lot of pride doing that.

Iowa State is a team that plays really hard, we split with them. A lot of respect for those guys. I think the ball bounced our way and we made some shots, forced them into some turnovers. I guess they had a total of 20 turnovers, so I thought the difference was the defense.

Really have a lot of respect for Iowa State and T.J., and I told those guys we couldn't have played better than what we did tonight.

Q. Terrence, in terms of the way you guys started off and just with the time that you had to prepare, how did you feel you all started that game off in terms of energy and the aggressiveness?

TERRENCE SHANNON, JR: We just watched Oklahoma beat Baylor and I feel like that fueled us more. And we also saw that Texas had a 20-point lead and they blew it, so we knew any team could come win today.

We did our best to start, come out strong, and once we got the lead we kept our foot on the gas.

Q. Kevin, same thing to you. I guess in terms of what you guys were able to do offensively, was it just that you guys had time to prepare, or was it just one of those deals where you guys finally clicked because you guys have been healthy, you practiced, and figured things out today?

KEVIN OBANOR: Well, just wanted to win. We have a lot of veterans on our team, and we know during this postseason that it's not all about who scores, but we just want to win and we have a lot of selfless people that want to play basketball and leave Texas Tech better than they found it.

I'm just grateful to play with a group of guys that just love playing basketball. It's truly an honor.

Q. For both of you, what was your reaction to Adonis' half-court shot?

TERRENCE SHANNON, JR: I thought it was good, until we saw it on the screen when we was walking out the tunnel to the locker room.

Q. Terrence, Kevin MCullar was back on the floor with you guys for the first time; finished with 11 points. Just to have him back, what did that mean?

TERRENCE SHANNON, JR: It was good. We all know Kevin is a competitor. He is one of our best defensive players on the court. When he plays, it's like a boost for us on offense and defense. He handles the ball first point guard wise and he leads us. He calls the huddles and everything, and it was real good. It was a big momentum change having him in the tournament.

Q. Kevin, same for you. What was it like to have the other Kevin back on the floor for y'all?

KEVIN OBANOR: It was good, and of course that's my brother. But with or without him we gotta play. Of course I'm grateful that he's healthy, we're all healthy, and we've just got to get mentally prepared for another one tomorrow.

Q. Coach, in terms of the way your guys played today, could you have been more pleased with the way they attacked the game plan?

MARK ADAMS: Really, I'm hard on them and the glass is usually half empty with me, but tonight it was a great game for these guys for forty minutes. I was proud of their effort and just the intensity that we displayed and the team effort I thought on both ends of the floor, were sharing the ball.

I thought it was by far our best game of the year. We got everybody healthy and it was -- the timing was good, because you want to play your best games in March, and that's what we're trying to do. The guys stayed focused and ready.

Those games earlier, even last night, the underdog won and it was a reminder for us that these records and rankings don't mean anything. You gotta go out and play each game.

Q. I know you are in a tournament atmosphere. You guys have done that in a certain way with the seven games in ten days, but what's the focus now? You don't necessarily have that time to prepare as you did for this first one now.

MARK ADAMS: Yeah, it's difficult for every team in March in these playoffs. You've gotta basically do what you do best and get everybody just playing together, and we did that in this game and we'll have a little time to prepare for tomorrow.

We're excited about it. We're already, you know, talking about our opponent and how we're going to play OU. They played really well tonight and, again, have a lot of respect for them and their coaching staff.

Q. Coach, no secret the team shoots three-pointers on you a ton, and you guys held Iowa State to 5-25 tonight. What was going into this game your game plan to defend the perimeter like you guys did?

MARK ADAMS: Was that my question?

Q. Yes.

MARK ADAMS: Well, we have a lot of respect for the three-point shooting, and you look at the games they won, they shoot the three-ball and get a lot of assists.

So we were trying every way we could not to give them that second and third pass and move the ball on us and get those open looks.

I thought we did that for the most part

Q. Going back to what you talked about with Oklahoma, the win against Baylor, how much did that prove that this tournament is wide open for anybody?

MARK ADAMS: Yeah, it is. Again, that's just March Madness and it's the playoffs for you. Anything can happen.

Q. Coach, you guys got off to a fast start and you saw Texas did, too. They lost. Talk about how your guys kept the pedal to the metal?

MARK ADAMS: I didn't even have to remind these guys. They had seen the earlier games and the coaching staff was like, hey, look, this is the first half. We've got to get out to a great staff that first five minutes, and coming back after halftime we did that.

We stumble a little bit missing layups and a free throw there, but our defense kept us in it and I think we scored off our defense. I thought it was consistent for forty minutes, and that's tough to do when you got a lead on a good team, and to keep your guys focused.

I think these guys mentioned we have a veteran group, a lot of experience and a lot of older guys that have been here before, and they showed that tonight.

Q. You said before you came out you were going to have all guys on deck, and you got Kevin MCullar back in. We saw Agbo back out. How nice is it to have all the pieces?

MARK ADAMS: A lot of fun. Everybody contributed, and each one of these guys have a skill set that makes us better on both ends of the floor.

We talked about that all the time. Let's just share the ball and don't worry about the minutes, and everybody get in the game and do what you do best, make your special contribution, and we did that.

I'm just proud of these guys. They're a lot of fun to coach, great kids, and they love each other. They want to win. That was apparent tonight.

Q. Another team you're going to see for a third time, you split with them. What do you remember in the first two games that sticks out?

MARK ADAMS: That game at Oklahoma is one of the games that we remember, because they probably -- we took a whipping that game. It was close the first half at our place; they probably beat us about as bad as anybody has beaten us on the road.

Again, a lot of respect for those guys. They're talented. They have a lot of specialists on that team. They're playing well.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, we will let you take your team and go back to the hotel. Congratulations. We will see you tomorrow.

MARK ADAMS: God bless y'all. Thank you.